


Diplomatic Relations

by water_bby



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 14:37:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1514090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_bby/pseuds/water_bby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi is quite happy living alone with his dogs. Besides, no matter how attractive his new neighbor is, the man has <i>cats</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diplomatic Relations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SqueakyNinja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SqueakyNinja/gifts).



> written for squeakyninja in the 2013 Kakairu Fest Winter round

Kakashi hadn't taken much notice of Anko's new housemate when he'd moved in. Mostly, he'd been relieved that he, unlike Anko, didn't need to go to the trouble of looking for someone with whom to split housing costs. (Kakashi's house might be what realtors would call a three-bedroom home, but it wasn't all that large, and seven dogs and a dissertation took up a good amount of space.) But he'd nodded at the appropriate points when Anko had mentioned renting out one of her extra bedrooms.

The following week, he'd noticed a young man getting out of a car in Anko's drive with two (two!) cat carriers. Damn. The guy was handsome, and Anko swore that he was gay, but Kakashi wasn't about to have anything to do with a cat-person. (Though, to be honest with himself, better cats than Anko's snakes. He'd taken care of them for her one summer, and they no more knew who he was or cared about him after those months than they had on the first day. At least when cats hissed at him, he knew it was personal.)

He couldn't avoid his new neighbor all the time though, and so he gradually got used to talking with him for a few minutes while grabbing his mail or when they both arrived home at the same time. (Iruka had smiled when they first met, saying "I'm working on a master's in education. Anko says you're writing your dissertation this year." He then admired Kakashi's bicycle, which of course meant that Kakashi had to ask about Iruka's bike and then they had to compare thoughts on the value of bike commuting to the university rather than using the bus. Iruka had asked him in for coffee, which Kakashi had accepted. The larger cat had made it clear that Kakashi was potentially on the menu for dinner. It didn't help to discover that the cat's name was Kira. Or that the smaller cat was named Shi. Kakashi made a point of staying outside when at all possible from then on.)

And then came the day that Kira escaped out the door at the same time that Kakashi's dogs decided to visit Anko's yard. As Kira was running across the lawn, the dogs gave chase, cornering the large black cat by the front door. Kakashi had a moment to worry about how to explain to Iruka that his dogs had mauled Iruka's cat when a high canine yelp sounded and the dogs all backed off. Kakashi spent his dinner hour taking care of scratched noses.

The next month, he was awakened from a pleasant nap to the sounds of his dogs barking. They almost never barked. He pushed the mini-blinds out of the way to see into his back yard, and there were several of his dogs, running back and forth along the fence that separated his yard from Anko's, barking all the while. On Anko's side of the fence, Shi sat in a patch of sun, ignoring the noise, while Kira paced a precise twelve inches off the fence. Great, Kakashi thought, now that cat is taunting my dogs! Iruka appeared in the yard, swept up Shi and then bent down to pick up Kira when the cat came to rub against his legs. Kakashi could have sworn that he heard the cats laughing.

The cats weren't out all that often, but they seemed to take especial delight in tormenting Kakashi's dogs when they did. (And, OK, Kakashi could see how the dogs were due a bit of bother for chasing Kira, but this was ridiculous. The cats seemed to always know when he was getting a bit of extra sleep!) And then, one day, he looked out the window during a writing break to see Shi in his back yard batting at Bisuke's nose as if it were a punching bag. He rushed out back to see how many scratches Bisuke had acquired to discover that there were none. Bisuke gave him a sad "you interrupted my game" look, while Shi slipped back through the fence, trotting off to see a newly-arrived-home Iruka with an air that Kakashi just knew meant the cat thought he was an idiot.

Iruka was the one who broke their comfortable pattern of talking about bikes, Anko, and (very occasionally) their pets. (Kakashi might not have a lot of social graces, but he knew enough to know that it was not polite to accuse a man's cats of plotting grave bodily harm. Sometimes, though, he really did think the cats were out to get him. Or his dogs. But the nose punching seemed to be a regular game now, so maybe he was just wrong.) That first visit to a coffee shop (an easy-to-walk mile away) led to more coffee shop trips. (Anko was wrong; they weren't coffee dates. They weren't.) And then to an invitation to dinner. A date dinner--Saturday night, dressing up, one person paying, the works. Kakashi forgot his decision to not pursue a cat-person and immediately said yes.

When Kakashi and Iruka arrived back that Saturday night, dinner having progressed to a nice walk in secluded areas that led themselves to a good kiss or three, Kakashi invited Iruka into his house for the first time. As Kakashi started water for hot drinks, Iruka went to let the dogs in. Kakashi was a bit surprised that his dogs weren't already standing on the patio, but they sometimes fell asleep in a pile when he was out late. Iruka's soft "Oh, my" caused him to look out the window to see what was going on. There was indeed a large clump of dogs. And cats. Shi was curled up on Bull's back, apparently sound asleep, and Kira and Pakkun were lying side by side, looking for all the world like heads of state at the announcement of a truce. Slowly, all the animals came into the house, Shi still perched on Bull's back. Kakashi and Iruka shared a glance before looking back at their various pets. Kira demanded to be picked up as soon as he entered the house, and then turned in Iruka's arms to glare at Kakashi. This time, though, Kakashi thought he was saying, "It's about time, idiot."

Oh, well. Kakashi was pretty sure that was probably Iruka's thought on how long it had taken them to get to this point, too.


End file.
